Hi
Just to introduce myself my name is Sujay Jha . I am Advisor OLPC India . OLPC means one laptop per child a dream project of MIT scientist particularly the founder Nicholas Negroponte
Essentially the concept of OLPC emerged out of Professor Nicholas Negroponte's experience with how connected laptops transformed the lives of children in various countries across continents, from
I personally believe that this is great social and non profit intiative that will transform lives of millions not only in India but across the globe . The greater objective to bring education to the bottom of pyramid will be met by this initiative . We are in the era of inclusive capitalism where every poor has to treated on par with others who are exclusive .Unless the people who live in the bottom of pyramid are transformed we will not able to create a better society . Ofcourse this mission caters to every body else who can contribute to buy and donate to the children of India .
22 comments:
sujay, it's a fantastic vision which will greatly impact education specifically in developing countries.
Best of Luck for your initiatives.
Amit
(www.amitpkumar.com)
Thanks Amit for your appreciation of this project ...I will require your support to take this forward .
Education is the very powerful tool for change ....no change can happen without education all great people have already thought that .OLPC is an attempt to provide education to all through the most powerful media today ie the laptop ....ok I dont deny that cell phone is equally powerful . So it is a conceptually an education project for the masses and the classes who already have resource to purchase one or many and donate proportionally with what numbers they purchase to the poor in the society who cannot own laptop . So you buy and you donate to the downtrodden section of the society . ... ofcourse there is a timeline for that ie Dec 2008 . I will like you all to visit our site ie www.laptop.org and www.olpcindia.net for more details .As we go through this journey of providing education to the children I will like to know your views and comments to support this beautiful cause . Looking forward to your support for OLPC India. I will keep replying to your messages and providing new thoughts everyday . Looking forward to a congenial and long relationships from all my friends , collegues and whoever is known as well unknown to me .
Hi, its a great initiative taken by you and OLPC. If it materialises as conceived by you it can bring about a wave of change. The product as I saw it, is a masterpiece and a wonder!! cant believe so much is contained in such a small lunch box like lookin gadget. Ol da best.. I m sure u ll get tremendous support and endorsements
This is a fantastic initiative especially when it is about the next generation. I was born during a time when the 1st computer was taking shape and today my 6 year old knows more abt computers than when I passed out of school. It is their time and this will jsut help it take it forward. Best of luck to you and the initiative. regards, anshu
Thanks Puskar and Shivy for your admiration of One laptop per child .Please do take out your time to visit the website www.laptop.org or www.olpcindia.net for more info . One thing I would like to quote from Alvin and Heidi Toffler book Revolutionary wealth " Knowledge increasingly defines the line between wealth and poverty between capability and powerlessness and between human fulfillment and frustration . A country which is able to mobilise and diffuse knowledge can rapidly raise its development and help all its citizens to grow and flourish "
How would citizen of India flourish ? I believe we need to bring education to the masses in marketing parlance the non customers or the villagers of UP , Bihar , AP and all the states of India . The bottom of pyramid becomes a significant agent of change . As we go in this journey to inclusive and social captalism I would like more and more views on One laptop and how it be taken logically to the masses.
Hi Sujay,
Its really pleasing to see you here as part of such a noble initiative. Best of Luck !!!
-Mihir
Thanks Mihir for your appreciation for OLPC . Actually when you look at the country it is a mammoth task to take this education initiative across the country . Based on MIT perception and the theoritical model of Papert a fun based laptop will have an effect on the child . The actual implementation will take us to the remotest corners of the country ....i really hope so . Well when we talk about the Papert it is all about the " Learning learning ....what this mean is the interactive and fun based learning . Does the child become independent of the teacher ..... teacher as an institution and a person will be the real agent of change . Do you agree with this ? Do let me know your views.
Thanks Mihir for your appreciation for OLPC . Actually when you look at the country it is a mammoth task to take this education initiative across the country . Based on MIT perception and the theoritical model of Papert a fun based laptop will have an effect on the child . The actual implementation will take us to the remotest corners of the country ....i really hope so . Well when we talk about the Papert it is all about the " Learning learning ....what this mean is the interactive and fun based learning . Does the child become independent of the teacher ..... teacher as an institution and a person will be the real agent of change . Do you agree with this ? Do let me know your views.
One laptop per child is on its way to bringing education to the masses and classes . Its is an arduous journey since we are selling education and not laptops . Comprehensive model of education is devised through this laptop . Learning becomes fun and I can see that when my three year old says with excitement that yeh mera green laptup hai .Well what is Green Laptop and how is it different from the black laptop . Well this consumes about 1-2 watt of energy whereas our normal laptop consumess more than 70 watt and a desktop about 100 watts . what a waste of enery ??? Well another aspect of green is that it can run on solar . WOW that seems aeurekha it times of power failure . I am really a propounder of solar so I really feel that solar is great and potentila form of energy in the time of crisis . We will discuss energy issues related to the IT and other worlds . Looking forward to your comments
We are the midst of an education revolution . This is not a surge of violence but an urge of learning . Learning creates a profilic mind which in turn provide creative input and metamorphises the whole person . Well the ideal age for this change is 5-6 years when the mind is in a state of absorbing many of the facts. The young mind can become absorbtive of many new developments . XO Laptop is designed for the young and learning mind which starts at the age of 5-6 years and goes on till the age 14 yr to 15 years . This does not mean that the mind stops learning post 15 years . Infact the mind become tune to more learning . Well as learning grow s development grow . So effectively we can relate the power of development to the power of learning .
Well, The OLPC’s goal to provide the children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves, brings a new hope found rarely in other projects. Though, there are other similar sized laptops, but they still have embedded wifi antennas with poor range, are not sunlight readable and environment friendly (XO consumes only 0.2 - 1W of power!), and do not have fanless design that make them fragile. XO is unique in both its hardware and software contexts!
XOs can form an ad-hoc network without the need of any infrastructure - technically termed as Mesh network - which enables a group of children to share and collaborate using XO’s software that includes a Word processor, Paint, Chat, Browser, Record (Stills and Videos), Music Creation and other activities; further strengthened by a very active open source community.
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One laptop per child is a mission to provide education to the children and ultimately the the whole of human race ....the nobility of the project is itself a great idea whose time has come ...No person will deny that eduacation is the key to all the mallice that has pervaded the human race ...well not ideologically but also prcatically . Why is that I have joined this movement ...is it because I want to sell laptops only .....No and yes ...No because the goal is not to sell a laptop which has no funtinality with the students in small towns and villages of India ...I challenge anybody in the industry to debate on the advantages of XO against any other laptop in the market ....well already I am hearing that competition is closing their product in this range ...well what happened ...is it the OLPC effect in India ....we have a lot to work to take this initiative to a critical mass .... but I can imagine the world incase this idea reaches the critical masss with or without competition ....in market however I would appreciate competition beacuse that improves your product ....and XO is not without competition ...but what is that XO has which none of the competition have ???
The underlying difference between the XO and the conventional computer is in the way of imparting education. Children are given the freedom to take XO to their homes, personalize them and engage in learning both at home and school. This also enables parents to participate in their learning and monitor them.
This is in addition to all the features that XO comes with - low power (0.2-1W, Chargeable via alternative sources of energy like solar power), connected learning (Children can access the internet, share files with each other and collaborate on projects), sunlight readable screen , rugged (fanless design) and education focussed software!
These all facts make the XO altogether a different learning medium than a conventional computer lab. The idea is to give freedom to children to explore XO which has been designed keeping this into mind.
Well we compare XO with other devices it would not be an understatement to state that XO has a definite edge over any Laptop which caters to children between the age of 6 years to 12 years . Why do I say this age limit ....well the XO Linux version caters to this segment . Ok a microsoft operating syetem can also work on XO ....SO it caters to every age group of student and office users population .
Ok imagine a government school in Urban city or small town or even a village ....do thay have power ....ok 16-18 hour loadshedding ....well XO can run on Solar so it is ideal for these condition .....can a child or adult think of dropping their laptop and still feel safe that the laptop is in proper condition ...of course not ....once a laptop like Dell , HP , ASUS drops from your hand they will be severely damaged ....XO is shock proof so their in no damage .....what happens if your cellphone or laptop is rainwashed or water is drop in them .....they get affected severely ...and can stop working indefinitely .
Sujay,
I agree with your views on inclusive capitalism and education for all. This is a great initiative. Let me know how can I participate towards your cause.
regards,
Sandeep
Drop it on the ground. Sprinkle water on its surface. Let it sit in the sun and expose it to swarms of dust—the XO laptop is designed to handle most any abuse from a child. But the journey of the XO laptop from concept to the educational tool for the world's poorest children is turning out to be a bit more complicated than originally anticipated.
A new Harvard Business School case study called "Marketing the '$100 PC'" spells out these opportunities, problems, and challenges from a marketing point of view. As the case asks, can the laptop move out of the realm of "great idea, great gadget" and improve the educational possibilities for children in impoverished environments?
Tech-savvy people as well as the socially conscious have been intrigued by the idea of "one laptop per child" since it made a splash as a formal initiative in January 2005 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was proposed by Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the MIT Media Lab. The time seemed ripe: The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Foundation quickly signed up Google, News Corp., AMD, Brightstar, and Red Hat. Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Inc. agreed to manufacture the laptop.
On the technological front, OLPC tackled puzzles such as creating a product both useful and fun for children of primary school age. . But despite its visionary goals and widespread public interest, OLPC has encountered more difficulty than anticipated to nudge governments from polite handshakes to cash commitments.
ne problem: the price. Although originally envisioned as the "$100 PC," OLPC has struggled to bring the price below $175. And now it faces competition in its low-cost market from for-profit powerhouses such as Intel, Dell, and Lenovo. Such wide-ranging issues are the focus of the case, coauthored by HBS professor John Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop, executive director of the HBS Global Research Group.
The first countries to give the thumbs-up for their children were Libya, Uruguay, Rwanda, Peru, and Mexico. Of course, OLPC aspires to many more commitments to fulfill its vision of "one laptop per child."
Herein, marketers find much food for thought.
According to Quelch, a professor of marketing, the laptop's creation and diffusion are special for several reasons. They form a perfect example of the evolution of "action pricing"—setting an audacious price goal and endeavoring to meet it. The laptop typifies technological breakthroughs that influence the mainstream in ways that could have large potential impact. The diffusion also suggests the stumbling blocks any company would encounter globally when carrying out such a worthy but ambitious goal. And the whole story points to the personal challenges that face the originator of a cool nonprofit idea when "me-too" for-profit companies seek to compete for the same customers.
Action pricing is a technique where you set an almost impossible price target and then "engineer backwards" the design of the product to meet that price, explains Quelch. The technique has been used occasionally by consumer durables manufacturers (refrigerator makers, for example) when they decide to build a particular product priced very attractively for consumers.
With the XO laptop, action pricing met a new level of complexity. OLPC set a price goal, $100, which seemed challenging but doable based on the XO's technological building blocks such as its reliance on freely available open-source software. In addition, OLPC had to determine the right mix of attributes and features that would appeal to the target users, children. Design could not be an afterthought; the laptop had to be attractive enough so a young person would feel proud to own it. The XO also required network capability to encourage collaborative tasks from writing assignments to playing digital instruments. At the same time it needed to address constraints such as the lack of electrical power in many remote rural areas—a problem it solves in several ways. Kids can recharge the battery by pulling a cord or attaching a solar panel, and the battery itself is long-lasting.
The XO laptop also illustrates how goal-setting can raise the bar in an industry.
"A number of technology breakthroughs were part and parcel of the development of this product. They could potentially be extended later to the benefit of users of all PCs," says Quelch. Unlike most laptops, its screen is easily readable even in bright sunlight. Users can save power by switching the screen from backlit color to self-reflecting monochrome.
"Using less power meant generating less heat, obviating the need for a power-consuming cooling fan," according to the case.
Despite these design and technological advances, the XO laptop has faced its biggest challenges in the realm of adoption and diffusion, says Quelch. Although it is set for distribution to kids in the above-named countries, its boosters have faced a long road to seal the deals, and a lot of work lies ahead.
"While on the surface it is a laudable vision to get one laptop to each child, and the motives are pristine, there are stumbling blocks in implementation," observes Quelch.
The conservative nature of governments, complex bureaucracy, and decision-making hurdles can all interfere with early public sector adoption of even the most worthy innovation, he says. This slower-than-expected adoption and diffusion may have surprised the leaders of OLPC.
"I think they may have underestimated the political roadblocks that could be put in the path of adoption. If you are a technology-centric person, in the West you don't think in terms of a computer replacing a teacher, but in a budget-strapped developing country environment, resources are so limited, there aren't enough teachers. Should PCs absorb money that could pay for additional teachers?"
Even as the OLPC experienced delays in securing orders, potential competitors were taking notice. The so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid market was now a focus of attention from mainstream PC markers facing maturation of their markets in developed countries.
"A number of technology breakthroughs were part and parcel of the development of this product, which could ... benefit users of all PCs." —John Quelch
According to the case, "In July 2007, PC maker Everex announced it would start selling its PCs at Wal-Mart for $298. Microsoft launched the $522 IQ PC aimed at children in India. Moreover, in August 2007, Lenovo, which manufactures a third of all computers sold in China, announced it would offer a laptop priced between $199 and $399 targeted at China's rural population. The PCs would plug into TVs instead of monitors. Lenovo, based in China, planned to use its network of 5,000 dealers to sell the laptops." It wasn't just PC makers that were attracted to this new market. Chip giant Intel did not want to relinquish a potentially lucrative market to its key rival AMD, an early supporter of OLPC. Intel is promoting the low-cost Classmate PC, which retails at a price higher but in the same ballpark as the XO laptop. (Intel also joined the OLPC initiative in July 2007.)
Lenovo and Intel are established players "who saw the initiative, understood its significance, and then brought their commercial resources to bear on further developing their product lines to address the emerging need."
"All of which must have been faintly depressing if you were the originator of the idea, now seeing your idea being imitated," continues Quelch. "On the other hand, a socially responsible not-for-profit leader should surely be pleased when the commercial sector is motivated to bring its resources to bear on the problem at hand, and prospectively accelerate the distribution of low-cost personal computers to more people much faster than would have occurred otherwise."
The case challenges students to see entrepreneurship in a new light. It is the mark of an extraordinary entrepreneur, the originator of any breakthrough idea, to see beyond his or her own personal "ownership" of the concept and let the solution to a problem take precedence—in this case, access for children the world over to the educational aspects of computing.
OLPC has made a difference already because it changed the landscape in terms of dreams and expectations. Observers can see what makes the goal of one laptop per child difficult to achieve. Says Quelch, "When you envision something as powerful and transforming as this concept, it is exceptionally easy to identify so many implementation problems that you simply give up. One key to new product development is to keep the ambition of the vision always front and centre to motivate you to solve these many problems that you're going to confront." One laptop at a time.
"Marketing the '$100 PC" will be taught this spring at Harvard to MBA and Executive Education students.
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